Currys Discount Vouchers and Competition Extension!

Anyone doing some early holiday shopping? or just need some more supplies?

Take advantage of Curry's Printable SPEND & SAVE COUPONS (Valid Instore until Nov. 30/11)

****I also want to let you know that our competition deadline to design our new look blog has been extended! Please get all submissions to me by Dec 13th at 9pm either by jpg via e mail or by handing me the original artwork on the evening of the meeting.****

Ona

Ona Kingdon Watercolours 2011 Video!

As I look back on everything I have achieved this year I can only say...Its been an AMAZING year with acceptance into 6 international juried shows, a signature membership to the PWS,  awards from the CWA and PPWS exhibitions, a sale from the CWA exhibition, an award and publication in the Canadian Brushstrokes Magazine and joining BWS and gaining so many new friends locally too.

Yes, I know we still have December to go this year but there are no more exhibitions and I have so many paintings to share already in this video I though any that I do paint this month can go into next year video :)

If you, like me like seeing a full screen/ high resolution version of the video instead of the small one embedded in this blog post click on this link and then click on the full screen icon in the bottom right hand corner of the screen.

I really hope you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed making it.
Thank you all for your friendship

Ona

World Watercolour Day!

It's World Watercolour Day very soon.

Are you going to celebrate it?

The inaugural World Watercolour Day  was established on November 23rd, 2001 by Senor Alfredo Guati Rojo, then President of the Sociedad Mexicana de Acuarelistas (the Mexican Society of Watercolorists) and exhibition curator of the Museo Nacional de la Acuarela(National Museum of Watercolor), Coyoacán, Mexico.

By 2004, 17 country's watercolour associations participated (Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Columbia, England, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, New-Zealand, Panama, Russia, Spain, Sweden, USA, and Venezuela).

This year, CSPWC Member Marilena Isasescu has spearheaded a project in which CSPWC artists exhibit work at branches of City of Toronto libraries from November 1 – 30.

 CSPWC Member Don Baxter will be showing his watercolour collages at the Northern District Library, 40 Orchard View Blvd., Toronto
CSPWC Member Josy Britton from Grand Bend, Ontario will have an exhibition of watercolours at the Don Mills Public Library, 888 Lawrence Ave. East in Toronto.
CSPWC Member Heidi Burkhardt will have work at the Mimico Centennial Library, 47 Station Road, Toronto.
CSPWC Member Alejandro Rabazo will show work at the Runnymede Library, 2178 Bloor Street West, Toronto.

So be sure to visit one over the next week or so if you get the opportunity.

How about celebrating the day by painting your art card for our December 13 party night and/or your entry into the painting contest to be used as the backdrop for our blog.  Either way, spread the word.

Ona and Lizbeth

Nancy Newman November 8th demo

Before the start of our demo Ona spent a few minutes to enlighten us further on the mysteries of using and enjoying our new blog.

Nancy delivered a very well recieved demonstration in watercolour covering several techniques she uses to start off many of her paintings.  She shared with us a simple plan to achieve multi-layered negative painting results. 
During the break we enjoyed treats brought in by Zahra, Jeannine and Joan.  Pauline did a fair bit of business with the rental of our new library DVD additions and Petra got most of us involved in the 50/50 draw.............prize money to the winner was $31.50.

 Jean, as always, was busy with her camera and here are some of the results.

Lizbeth

Winter ArtFest!

Just letting you know about the Winter Artfest that Nicol Mentis and Diana Bick will be taking part in next weekend.

WINTER ARTFEST 2011! November 26 - 27, 2011; 10 am - 4 pm
It's the return of Winter Artfest, Neilson Park Creative Centre's two-day Art & Craft Sale! Join us on Saturday, November 26th and Sunday, November 27th for two days of food, fun and fantastic arts and crafts vendors! It's the biggest festival of it's kind in the West End!
This year will be bigger than ever, so don't miss out!

Nicol and Diana hope some of you can make it out to see the show and say hi! 

 

Please take some photos that you can share with us all.

Ona

Great deals on Dan Smith paints!

My copy of the Daniel Smith winter sale catalogue arrived a couple days ago and I thought I would let you know about some great package deals for watercolour paints. Among the deals are:

 a primary triad of  3 15ml tubes including Perylene red, Hansa yellow and french ultramarine for only $18.95 (a saving of $15.39 off the regular price)

a secondary triad including a 15ml tube each of undersea green, carbazole violet and quin burnt orange for $18.95 (a saving of $9.84 off the regular price)

 Susie Shorts essentials which includes 7 15ml tubes for only $34.03 Colours include, quin rose, french ultramarine blue, new gamboge, phthalo blue, quin burnt orange, pyrol orange and hansa yellow (a saving of $34 off the regular price)

yes, you have to pay postage as well but the postage isn't bad for tubes of paint which are small. They also have a sale on acrylic paints so its well worth a look.

If you are interested and want to look at the catalogue on line Click Here

Make sure you leave the page open on the computer too so that anyone else in the family might see it. You never know they  might take the hint. After all Christmas is just around the corner :)

Ona

7 strategies sell your pitch!

Marion, Lizbeth, Jean, Pauline and I had a very interesting day yesterday at the Creative Arts symposium at the Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts. One of the speakers, Dianne Buckner, host of CBC's Dragon's Den, gave us 7 strategies to get people to buy into your creative vision and I thought it would be interesting to share these with you all.

1. Sell yourself, be confident in yourself and your vision. Be honest, reputable, gain credibility (credentials) name drop:)

2.Target your market... do your research... who is your buyer, what do they need/want Why does this person want to help you?

3.Tell a story...make yourself human, give a glimpse into who you really are, your personality.

4. Don't let your emotions get the better of you. Emotion is a good thing. Its great to be passionate about your work but don't get carried away.

5. Lead with your strengths but also understand your weaknesses. Be prepared to answer questions creatively, show you have thought about your vision.

6. Watch for trends and shifts in human behaviour. Use social netwroking sites like blogs, Twitter and facebook not only to get your message accross but also to keep up to date with others in your field.

7. Keep it simple and clear... think carefully about what the most compelling detail is and focus on this. Don't get bogged down by all the details.

so why do we need to remember these things?

as artists there are many times that we have to sell ourselves, our work, our vision...... to the customer/client.... to galleries.... to the Arts council when applying for grants/funding.... to the press when we want publicity....the list goes on.

I also want to take this opportunity to review how to subscribe to this blog.

Click on the e mail notification box and type in your e mail. (This will be totally confidential) and click on submit. Another window will then pop up and you will be asked to type in a series of letters. This is just a safety feature to prevent automatic computers subscribing to anything. Then click on complete subscription request. You will then receive an e mail asking you to verify. Click on yes and then each time any of the blog team posts on this blog you will get an e mail notification reminding you to check the blog.

Don't forget the blog is interative too. At the bottom of each post is a comment tab. Click on this and then type whatever comment you wish to make in the white box. When you have finished, sign your first name and then click on 'post a comment'. If you do not have a g mail account or you wish to remain anonymous other than your first name, click on the comment as box and  in the drop down tab at the very bottom is anonymous. Click on this to post your comment.

Ona

Workshop Details!

Tony Cook has just sent me the following information that he thought many of us might be interested in.

Famed watercolourist, Art Cunanan CSPWC will be holding a two-day workshop at the Momiji Seniors’ Centre, 3555 Kingston Rd (at Brimley) Scarborough, ON,  on November 26 and 27, 2011.

The cost is $100 to non-members.If you are interested in attending, contact Maxine Rehder at Momiji phone 416-261-9384 ASAP because his workshops are usually sell-outs.

Early Gathering- Caleta de Velez
Watercolour

Born in the Philippines and educated at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, Art's pursuit of his passion began as a graphic artist for a leading newspaper and several advertising companies in Manila.
In 1984, he was introduced to the Canadian scene by Zoltan Szabo, a well known artist and instructor. Since his Canadian introduction, his work has been accepted into juried exhibitions, private and corporate collections in Canada, United States, Europe, Asia, Australia and the Philippines. Represented by galleries at major cities in Canada, Cunanan has held many successful exhibitions. Some of his work has also been reproduced by Carlton Cards, Bradley Museum and Royal Insurance.
In 1989, Art decided to devote his attention to painting full-time and started teaching workshops for various art groups and art schools. A popular art instructor, he has been teaching workshops across North America and Europe for the past 18 years.

Thanks Tony:)

...Don't forget to let either myself, Lizbeth or Betty know if you would like us to share any information with the group as Tony has done today.... and remember to get painting to create your entry to our competition to brighten up our blog.

Ona

Demo by Nancy Newman

We have a very exciting demonstration planned for Tuesday's meeting. Nancy Newman will be showing us the art of negative painting in watercolour.

 

Nancy Newman is an award winning artist and teacher, living in Aurora, Ontario.

 

  She says, " I have been guided by a quotation given to me by Dr. Frank Brathwaite, a respected Canadian educator. “Those who continue to grow, despite their age, are always in a continuous state of gearing up for life’s next challenge. They maintain a forward momentum and are infectiously enthused about life, which is after all an adventure, not a guided tour”.

My challenge is to learn something new every day and to create a reflection of the small things in life which bring me joy and spark my imagination. As an educator I believe in and practise lifelong learning. Art keeps me enthused and allows my adventure to continue."

What a great philosophy! If you would like to see some of her work please click on this link to her web site.

So what is negative painting?

 Negative painting simply means creating the form you want by painting the area around it instead of the form itself. In other words, if you were painting a leaf, but wanted to leave it white... paint what is behind that leaf to actually shape the leaf itself.


Hope to see everyone on Tuesday. Non members are more than welcome to attend too. See you around 6.45pm at the Langstaff Community Centre on Tuesday November 8th.

Ona